7314-Potters and Related Workers

Tasks include:

• making articles of pottery and porcelain
• making clay or plaster of Paris moulds
• reading technical drawings to know customer?s requirements
• forming articles on potters? wheel by pressing thumbs into centres of revolving clay to form hollows, and press on the inside and outside of emerging clay cylinders with hands and fingers, gradually raising and shaping clay to desired forms and sizes
• adjusting wheel speeds according to the feel of the clay as pieces enlarge and walls become thinner
• operating jigger machines to form ceramic ware, such as bowls, cups, plates, and saucers
• adjusting and setting controls of pug mill that mixes, extrudes, cuts, and deposits clay charges in or over moulds as specified
• smoothening surfaces of finished pieces, using rubber scrapers and wet sponges
• forming abrasive wheels by moulding and pressing an abrasive mixture by hand or by machine
• examining finished ware for defects, verifying accuracy of shapes and sizes of objects, using callipers and templates
• preparing work for sale or exhibition, and maintaining relationships with retail, pottery, art, and resource networks that can facilitate sale or exhibition of work